


Birdie McQuack and How to Handle Your Sons Love Life

by Drifting_Andromeda



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Domestic, Family Fluff, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, this is birdies pov btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drifting_Andromeda/pseuds/Drifting_Andromeda
Summary: Birdie has seen her son's heart get broken too many times, so when he starts gushing about the new Darkwing Duck she has a right to be worried.
Relationships: Drake Mallard/Launchpad McQuack
Comments: 5
Kudos: 177





	Birdie McQuack and How to Handle Your Sons Love Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Ducktales/Darkwing fic so it may not be the best ever? Also I starting writing this at midnight so apologizes for grammar or spelling mistakes. Anyway, enjoy!

Birdie McQuack would be lying to say she wasn’t worried. 

She doesn’t worry about much, contrary to popular belief. She never worries about her plane giving out in the air, she never worries about the weather, and she hasn’t worried about Launchpad and Loopey’s safety since they were kids. They both have their heads on their shoulders, though they’re both a little dreamy, they can handle themselves fine.

Well they can handle themselves in most things, but they are human. Loopey gets hesitant when she has to cook, she can't cook to save her life.

Launchpad on the other hand.

If there was a list of how many people ended up breaking her son's heart, she could take said list and make several scarves out of it. 

Launchpad has gotten too good at hiding just how upset he gets when someone ends the relationship. He brushes it off and says “At least I still get a friend out of it!” Most people believe he’s fine, but Birdie’s known him his whole life. She knows how much love he can give, and how rarely he gets just as much love back. She seems how guarded he’s become over the years, how he thinks so little about himself, and she has no idea what to do about it.

She texts him every day about how important he is and how so many people love him. It never seems to be enough. Even when he works for the richest duck in the world, and seems to have slithered into the family. Launchpad talks about how much he loves the kids and how he loves the adventure, but Birdie knows how little he does when it comes to actual family activities. Most of the time he just drops them off and is a watcher, sometimes he helps, but not much.

When the boys found out about their mom and Scrooge McDuck himself spiraling into a depression, Launchpad called and told her everything. She’ll never forget how sad he sounded, or how happy he was after the shadow war was over and the family was back together. Then Della Duck came back, and Launchpad started doing less and less in the family. He was still a part of it, and he acted like he was happy but Birdie knew he wanted more.

Before aliens invaded the Earth Launchpad and McDuck’s nephew Dewey went to a movie set where a Darkwing Duck movie was being filmed. At the mention of the terror that flaps in the night Birdie couldn’t help but smile at the memories. Launchpad had come across the show by chance one rainy Saturday morning in 1992. He changed the channel just in time for newbie actor Jim Starling to announce that he was in fact the one and only Darkwing Duck. 

For the rest of the day he sat in front of the television and watched Darkwing get back up and fight. That was the day Launchpad knew he wanted to be a hero. He idolised the guy for decades to come. Ripcord and Birdie quickly caught on and used Darkwing as an example and a way to bribe their son. 

When Launchpad didn’t want to eat his beats they would say “Oh I bet Darkwing would eat beats.” Or when he was developing his fear of heights Ripcord used Darkwing to goad Launchpad to get on the plane. Even though he was terrified he came out of the experience with a smile and a new passion for flying. Birdie was almost as thankful for Darkwing as Launchpad was.

So when Launchpad got the actor who was going to play Darkwing’s number and he brightly told her that he was a great guy, something sank in Birdie. She had heard this conversation before. Too many times.

A phone call with “She’s so brave” “He’s really cool” “They’re a wereduck and it’s so cool” yatta yatta. And everytime, a few weeks or so later, she got a call explaining that they broke it off. Every time there was one common factor in the break up, every time those interesting people always told Launchpad that he ‘made them better.” 

Did they ever make him better? Did they support her son like he supported them? She hated to admit it but she wasn’t really a fan of any of the people Launchpad had dated. She would never say anything to her family, even if she suspected that Ripcord and Loopey felt that same. They got the same texts and calls from Launchpad that Birdie did.

But this was different, Launchpad has always loved Darkwing Duck, now he’s interacting with the guy who was going to play him in a movie (and maybe actually being him? She’s unsure.) So it was only a matter of time before her son started falling for him.

So when he called saying they had gone on patrol together her heart nearly broke. He sounded so excited and she knew the other shoe was going to drop eventually. Darkwing was just being nice, he was going to drop Launchpad just as easily as everyone else when he was a better crime fighter. It was bound to happen eventually.

Then one day he called with some. Strange news.

“Hey mom.” He sounded hesitant.

“Hi hon, what’s up? Is everything ok?” A spike of anxiety went through her, Darkwing broke it off, something bad happened to him, so on and so on.

“Yeah everythings fine, it’s just. You know DW goes around and has been doing actual crime fighting right?”

“Yes?”

“Well there was this case where he had to save a little girl-and he did! He saved her, more so, I suppose.”

“More so?”

Launchpad was quiet for a moment, “He adopted her.”

Ever since that call Launchpad had gone from gushing over Darkwing to gushing over his daughter Gosalyn. Apparently she was a red haired firecracker who was nothing but energy. Not to mention she was the biological granddaughter of famed scientist Emmet Waddlemeyer. 

Birdie knew it was bad when Launchpad talked about how DW and Gosalyn wanted him to go on vacation with them to some desert resort. Kids of any kind were already a weakness towards him, now he’s romantically interested in someone with a kid that he’s close to.

When it happens… Birdie wasn’t looking forward to it. 

She wasn’t looking forward to it when Launchpad invited them over to Darkwings house to meet him and his daughter. He had talked about how he basically lived with them some days while he still drove McDuck back and forth to his famous money bin. Their whole dynamic made Birdie nervous, and it was hard not to show it.

“Are you ok ma?” Loopey finally asked looking up from her phone. The family had landed in a private hangar in Duckburg (no Beagle Boys this time) and were waiting for Launchpad to come and pick them up.

“I’m fine, just a little nervous.” She was pacing back and forth staring up at the sky, she developed the habit in high school and was never able to drop it.

“Don’t be so nervous hon.” Ripcord spoke up, “Traffic is probably backed up to get here from St. Canard.”

“I’m not worried about that.” She said dismissively. 

Loopey and Ripcord exchanged a look before Ripcord spoke again, “Is this about that Darkwing fellow?”

Birdie sighed and stopped pacing, but her foot tapped in place to make up for the lack of movement. “He’s Darkwing Duck, it’s basically impossible for Launchpad not to fall for him.”

As if on cue a horn honked and they all turned to see Launchpad step out of an old, spacious jeep with a huge smile on his face. “Mom, dad, Loopey!”

Loopey stood up and basically tackled her older brother in a hug. Last time all of the Mcquacks were together was for the Duckburg air show, so it was a while. 

“Aw, I missed you guys! How’s it been?”

Loopy launched into a spiel about a street vendor she met on a free day in Korea and Ripcord told him about the circus they visited in Russia. Birdie, on the other hand, couldn’t bring herself to talk about their exploits. Anxiety was bubbling in her stomach and every nerve seemed to tense up in her body, worry and doubt gnawed at her heart for the whole time her family talked. 

Only when Launchpad looked at her with a bright smile and cheerful eyes did she force herself to smile. He must’ve thought she was letting her husband and daughter do the talking, because he never asked her what she saw on her travels.

They loaded up their luggage in the back of the jeep and got settled in for the drive back to St. Canard. Launchpad drove (of course) while Ripcord occupied the passenger seat while Loopey and Birdie settled in the back seat. It was only then did Birdie decide to interject into the conversation.

“So you’re still working with McDuck right? How’s that going?” She asked as sweetly as possible. The whole reason she wanted to ask was to distract herself from the crushing disappointment that she was expecting from this Darkwing character.

“Oh yeah! It’s going great! I still go on adventures with them when Ms. D can’t. I always drive Mr. McDee to and from the bin even when I’m exhausted.”

“Why are you exhausted?” Ripcord asked.

“I’ve slowly but steadily started helping Dw with patrols at night.” He swerved out of the way of a blue truck with an angry beagle who cussed him out, the family didn’t bat an eye at him. “There's a lot of weirdos in St. Canard.”

Loopy snorted, “Sounds like ‘Dw’ can fit in that category.”

Launchpad shrugged and glanced at his sister in the rearview mirror, “I mean kind of? He’s all about doing the right thing, sure he dresses up, but he doesn’t really have any powers. Everytime he gets hit by some ice lady, or a magical painter lady, or whatever. He gets up and makes sure that the job is done, no matter what.”

The rest of the family fell silent and shared worried glances. Just the tone of his voice, the fondness and endearment that slipped through, told his family as much as they needed to know. Launchpad had already fallen in love with this man.

Birdie’s anxiety and worry came rushing back to her and she pressed her back into the backseat. It was almost as if she hoped the seat would take her away from the harsh reality she would have to face when they got there. 

When it came to meeting people Launchpad was infatuated with, it was a rare occurrence. It was more common to see these types of people when he was in highschool and still living under Birdies roof. 

She could count on one hand how many of her eldests partners she has met. Before this it was only three. Stella Lark, a girl who was a year older than him and ended it due to going to a college across the country. Zachariah Hillberry, a tiny little thing that was almost as nerdy as her son who ended it because he became interested in someone else and hoped that Launchpad understood. The last one she met was during her sons last year at college, he was visiting for spring break and brought a very elegant looking girl with an accent that Birdie couldn’t place, still can’t actually. Eleanor Plover was striving to be a professional ballet dancer, and that was the reason she ended the relationship. She wanted to focus on her career, which she did. Now she’s famous in the dancing world and has a daughter and a son with another man.

Darkwing would be the fourth.

The traffic itself was almost suffocating. Loopy and Ripcord went back to a casual conversation where Birdie would come in with something to add to the story. But Launchpad kept glancing back at his mother or even turning to her when traffic in the city was at a standstill. He had caught on that she wasn’t talking as much as she usually did.

Birdie had grown up with her parents and friends and even random people telling her that she had a hard time shutting up. She would chat strangers' ears off if given the chance. Her older brother sarcastically told her that he was surprised she even got married because she doesn’t know when to stop talking. But Ripcord has told her multiple times that her talking is what drew him to her in the first place. 

Of course her children would catch on when she was talking much, usually it was just because she felt ill or she was tired. She knew she was giving herself away, she always tapped her foot when she was nervous and always glanced around. Launchpad, who has known Birdie for over three decades, knew these little habits. 

For whatever reason he didn’t bring it up. 

The whole drive took over forty minutes (Launchpad claimed it was the lunch rush) but suddenly Birdie looked out the window and they were suddenly crossing the threshold into the suburbs. Her anxiety rocketed back up at the sight of the white picket fences and the green lawns and what not. Launchpad never went into detail about what Darkwings house looked like, so the fact that it was in the suburbs sat strange with her.

He fought crime, he dressed as a superhero from the 90s for heaven's sake. Birdie always imagined a creepy house on a hill or in a cemetery where there was some weird portal to a castle or whatever. A suburban house? It didn’t seem right. 

After a few streets Launchpad pulled into a small driveway that belonged to a house that looked identical to the others. Well besides the sports equipment that was littered across the yard. 

The moment the car was shut off Birdie froze up a little. Launchpad was so open and willing to go through pain again, but she wasn’t sure she could handle watching her only son get crushed again. Either way she forced herself to get out and grab her little carry on bag while her husband and son took care of the bigger bags.

Birdie followed Loopey, who was leading, but as she got closer to the door she heard loud noises and voices. 

“You don’t have to knock” Launchpad informed with a suitcase thrown on his shoulder, “Dw knows you guys are coming.”

Loopey shared a ‘let’s get this over with’ look with Birdie before opening the door just in time to hear a little girl.

“Nooooooo, how do you always beat me?” A man laughed in reply. The McQuacks walked in, settled the suitcases down, and Birdie couldn’t help but just, stare. The house was tidy, a few stray items like toys or shoes thrown here and there but it was tidy and almost welcoming. 

The thing that caught her attention was the man and the little girl sitting on the floor. The flat screen tv was bright with a video game that Birdie recognized as a remaster of Whiffle Boy, a video game Loopey loved as a kid. The controllers were on the two peoples laps and there was an almost empty blue bowl of popcorn between the two of them. It was so normal.

Launchpad walked past his family into the living room with a smile on his face. The bigger presence caught the attention of the two people on the floor and they suddenly looked over at the rest of the McQuacks. 

The little girl with tan feathers and wavy red hair sat up straighter and smiled. The man shifted on the floor and looked a little sheepish.

“Are you Launchpads family?” The little girl exclaimed excitedly before anyone else could speak.

Launchpad chuckled, “Yep! That's my dad Ripcord, my mom Birdie, and my little sister Loopey!” As their names were mentioned each member of the family brightened back up and waved.

As the man looked unsure the girl stood up immediately and walked up to the rest of the family. She had bitten the inside of her cheek and looked over the rest of the family like they were pieces of candy and she was deciding to choose which one to buy.

After a moment she spun on her heel towards the other two men, “I like em, they look nice.”

The man on the floor, who Birdie assumed to be Darkwing, chuckled. He grabbed the sofa behind him and used that to support him as he stood up, wincing as he did so. “Gos, they’re Launchpad's family, be nice.”

“You know what I’m like when I’m mean.” Gosalyn said seriously before turning back to Birdie with a smile. She couldn’t help but return the gesture.

Darkwing stretched and Birdie could hear something crack before he walked right behind Gosalyn with a smile. “Drake Mallard, this is my daughter Gosalyn.”

“Loopey McQuack.” Loopey greeted with a firm handshake over Gosalyns head. “I’m-”

“Lp’s little sister, he talks about you a lot.” Drake finished, though a little sheepishly. “He talks about all of you a lot.”

Ripcord gave a belly laugh and playful slapped Drakes shoulder, though it was a little harder than he meant as Drake stumbled forward a little, knocking into Gosalyn a bit.

“Launchpad talks about you two an awful lot as well!”

Gosalyn shuffled a little closer to Ripcord with a hopeful expression, “Did you really see a dragon in the Kunlun mountains?”

Ripcord looked a little taken aback, Launchpad only told that story to McDuck and his housekeeper, the fact that Drake and Gosalyn knew was an actual surprise. Luckily he recovered quickly.

“A long time ago, I managed to get a scale off, wanna see?”

“Keen gear, a real dragon scale? Absolutely!” Ripcord went to his suitcase with the red head close behind. Loopey and Launchpad had wandered into the living room and were admiring the gaming console, leaving Birdie and Drake in the hallway.

For a brief moment she felt awkward and unsure, trying to think of something to say. Thankfully Drake saved her from small talk.

“I know Launchpads Jewish too, technically Gos isn’t yet but she does want to convert eventually. Anyway, I tried to make kugels, but the way Lp talks about yours I doubt they’ll be as good.”

Birdie let the information sink in for a moment, “You’re Jewish too?”

He nodded, “Though I don’t like talking about my bar mitzvah.” He said with an awkward chuckle.

“Were you aware that kugels were my son's favorite?”

Drakes cheeks tinted the slightest shade of pink and he rubbed the back of his neck, “I knew how important it was for him to see you guys again, that's why I offered for you guys to stay here. He’ll still drive McDuck in the morning and afternoon, but… I don’t know, I just wanted to make it easier to see you I guess. Sorry, I’m rambling.”

At that Birdie actually laughed, “Oh hon you haven’t heard me talk like I usually do.” She gave him a genuine smile, “I appreciate you helping him.”

Drake's blush was tinted a few shades darker and he couldn’t meet Birdie's gaze. The only reason he recovered was because Gos ran over showing off Ripcords dragon scale. 

The whole night Birdie tried not to talk as much as she usually did, Drakes rambling made up for it most of the time. But she managed to watch him interact with his daughter and with her son. As the night went on and Drake and Launchpad set up some tents and put a cover on Gosalyns trampoline to sleep on, and Gos kept talking about her friend who was a robot and how last time they went camping there was a robot bear and a vampire potato and all these crazy things.

Birdie realized a few things.

One thing was that Drake did all the normal things all for Gosalyn. The suburban home, the trampoline he bought, all the sports equipment, everything ‘normal’ was for her. It was obvious she had been through a lot at such a young age, and Drake made it his duty to make sure she had a normal childhood to make up for being Darkwing among the other things that have happened to her.

That was the other thing, Launchpad hadn’t told Drake that his family knew what he did to earn a check and was very scared for a moment. Scared that they weren’t going to accept it and make Launchpad and Gosalyn leave. That was when it hit her that Drake cared so much what the McQuack family, the next reason made it obvious. 

Of course the family didn’t mind, that was the most relieved she had ever seen a grown man in her life. Even Gosalyn seemed relieved. But that wasn’t what stuck out to Birdie.

Drake and Gosalyn were very close, they ran a simple family dynamic even when there were only two of them. Drake got home at sunrise, woke Gosalyn up, then made her breakfast before he himself went to bed. 

If you took the Darkwing part out of the equation the Mallards could have been mistaken for a very close, normal family. And they allowed Launchpad to fit into their equation as well. He helped Drake with his work and tried to help Gos with her homework (though she told Birdie that he was clueless most of the time.) He even cooked sometimes, and was unofficially in charge of making sure Drake and Gos took their pills.

Launchpad was a part of their little family as much as he was a part of the McQuacks.

And it was obvious that Drake was just as smitten with Launchpad as he was with him. Birdie wasn’t always the best when reading people but she knew love when she saw it.

They didn’t argue when they were trying to set up a tent (only a few sarcastic comments) and they laughed when they realized they were doing something wrong. But what Birdie appreciated the most was that Drake actually helped Launchpad, he taught him how to put the tarp on the trampoline so bugs didn’t fly in.

“You’ll need to know how to do this eventually. What if the rest of the kids storm my house and want to sleep on the trampoline and I’m not here?”

“And you assume that I’d drive them here?”

“Who else would?”

“Good point, now where does this buckle into?”

But what really sealed the deal was when Birdie managed to be left alone in the living room with Gosalyn. Everyone else was outside figuring out where things went and so on.

Gosalyn was trying to figure out how to get out of the Whiffle Boy menu and back to the regular tv. Birdie was trying to help, but she didn’t know what she was doing.

“Why are tvs so confusing?’ Birdie complained hitting a button on the remote, but nothing was happening.

Gosalyn snorted, “They’re really not, it’s the menu on this one thats weird.”

“Well they’re confusing to my generation.”

“What is your generation anyway?”

“I was born 1961 so I’m a generation x.”

“Ah, so a boomer?” Birdie paused and just looked at Gosalyn for a moment, while the girl smiled Birdie fought one off.

“You’ve got a tongue, don’t cha?”

She shrugged as she finally managed to return to the last thing the Mallards were watching. Some soap opera called The Young and the Brainless.

“Sometimes I do, depending on the situation I guess.”

“I get that, I hope you aren’t as sharp with your father.”

“Oh I am.” Gosalyn said proudly. “He gets an ego sometimes and needs Launchpad and I to knock him back to reality.”

The two of them started tidying up the living room and all was quiet for a moment before Gosalyn started talking again.

“They’re really annoying sometimes.”

Birdie was on her knees picking up spilt popcorn off the carpet but stopped when Gosalyn said that. “Who’s annoying?”

The red head was organizing the video games and the controllers in front of the tv, she took her hair out of the ponytail she was sporting earlier so her wavy hair was all over the place. “Launchpad and my dad, it feels like I’m living in the world's worst rom com sometimes.”

She was taken aback some, then she started laughing. Birdie didn’t even need to prod at the subject, Drake’s own daughter brought it up unprompted. 

“Well knowing my son he’ll say something sooner or later, I’m just worried that it’ll end in heartbreak.” It felt nice to actually say it out loud to someone else, it didn’t feel nice when Gosalyn looked at her as if she grew a toe out of her forehead.

“Well knowing my dad he’d be crushed if Launchpad ended things.”

“I’m not worried about Launchpad ending things, he’s never ended a relationship in his life.” The fact that Drake would be equally as crushed if Launchpad stopped hanging around him and his daughter brought some form of solitude to Birdie. 

It helped even more when Gosalyn laughed, “The day my dad tells Launchpad to leave is the day the world ends.”


End file.
